Florida condo & HOA news
Plain-English Florida condo and HOA law updates for owners, volunteer board members, managers, and everyone navigating community-association life.
Read the latest articles ↓From the front lines
Written by Eric M. Glazer · Florida attorney
Let’s assume that a storm has just damaged your condominium. Of course, the board has the authority to start making repairs to the common elements. But can a unit owner beging making repairs to their damaged unit with no questions asked? Florida Statute 718.111 states: A unit owner may undertake…
Read: 55 AND OVER COMMUNITIES – HOW TO BECOME ONE AND STAY ONE → Hurricane season starts June 1st. If you haven’t ensured that the association property is properly insured, you better get busy. And fast. Let’s go over what the condo statute says about a board’s obligation to insure the condominium property. Florida Statute 718.111(11) states: (a) Adequate property…
Read: THE PERFECT TIME FOR AN INSURANCE PRIMER → Iwrite this blog the day after I did my last seminar of the season. Starting from about September to now, I’ve taught all over the state in so many wonderful cities and venues. At all of these seminars there’s always talk about apathy in our communities. Nobody cares. Nobody shows up to meetings. Nobody…
Read: WHO SAYS NOBODY CARES? → All of you know how terrible the condo and HOA statutes are in terms of the association’s ability to collect unpaid assessments when a bank forecloses on a unit or home. If the bank gets back a unit in foreclosure, they owe the association the lesser of 1% of the mortgage or 1 year of assessments.…
Read: YOU MAY BE CHEATING YOURSELF OUT OF MONEY → Some years are quiet when it comes to the passage of new laws affecting Florida community associations. This was definitely not one of those years. Here are the new laws in summary form as a result of the passage of HB 841. 718.111 —- OFFICIAL RECORDS: The law now makes it clear that the association must…
Read: HERE THEY ARE………..THE NEW ASSOCIATION LAWS FOR 2018 → Boards of Directors love to have extra money in the bank. Who doesn’t? But the question is…… when is enough enough? Boards of Directors are required to simply pass a budget that pays the association’s bills. Anything collected, above and beyond what pays the bills is “Common surplus” which means the…
Read: BUT…….IT’S NOT THE ASSOCIATION’S MONEY! → On Friday morning it looked pretty bleak in terms of whether there would be any new condo and HOA laws passed this year. Friday, after all, was the last day of the legislative session and the bill, HB 841, seemed to have stalled in Florida’s Senate. By law, the legislative session was required to be over by…
Read: OH WHAT A NIGHT! → Several months ago, I blogged about confusion that exists in the 2017 condo crime bill. That new statute states that: A board member may not serve more than four consecutive 2-year terms, unless approved by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the total voting interests of the association or unless there…
Read: SOME ELECTION CONFUSION MAY SOON GET CLEARED UP → With all of the negative press out there regarding condo and HOA boards, one would get the impression that all board members are united in their effort to accomplish a pre-planned agenda that serves the board members’ interests instead of the community interest as a whole. The truth is often times very…
Read: A DIVIDED BOARD OR A UNITED BOARD? → Exactly a year ago now the now infamous Miami-Dade Grand Jury report came out that exposed some glaring issues with the DBPR and their role in Florida condominiums. Here is a segment from that report: The Select Committee heard numerous speakers at its hearings express their frustration with DBPR “delay and…
Read: EXPAND OR CONTRACT THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION? → This week I am very proud to announce that our office drafted legislation that truly brings Florida into the 21st century. It is still being tweaked by others with input, but it seeks to address an issue that we will need to deal with on a large scale, sooner than later, and that is electric cars. Many…
Read: SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO DEAL WITH ELECTRIC CARS? → It’s funny how many times over the years, Boards have told me “We weren’t having a meeting, we were only talking about the condo” or “We weren’t having a meeting, we were in a workshop.” For clarification, let’s see how a “meeting” is defined by law. For a condominium, the Florida Administrative Code says:…
Read: WHEN IS A MEETING A MEETING? → Representative George Moraitis has again filed a bill, House Bill 1061, that would allow community associations to opt-out of the requirement not only of a fire sprinkler system, but also for an engineered life safety system. You may recall that this was an extremely popular bill last year as it seeks to…
Read: SOME OTHER COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION PENDING LEGISLATION → House Member Emily Slosberg recently co-sponsored House Bill 123 called the “Stand Up for Seniors Act ” which only applies to 55 and over...
Read: DO SENIORS REALLY NEED THIS? → This year, The Florida Legislature starts early. In fact, it is already in session. So what’s in store for community associations in...
Read: SO WHAT’S IN STORE FOR 2018? → This week the blog is pretty important too. All too often I am seeing the incorrect number of Board members serving on a condominium...
Read: HOW MANY MEMBERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ON YOUR CONDO BOARD? → This INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR agreement is entered into by and between Annael Harrrar (contractor) and CLS DISTRIBUTORS, FL. LLC,...
Read: INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT → You managed to save enough money to buy a home in the community of your dreams. You sweated and saved and you are proud to have accomplished the opportunity to provide a beautiful environment for you and your family to live in. You achieved the American dream. Not so fast. Whether it’s political…
Read: HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING? →Read it. Then watch it.
